Guardians of a Princess
by gypsybelleoftheopera
Summary: Elsa has spent her whole life locked inside her castle without any contact from the outside world. Her only companions are two magical beings like her, except they're invisible to the rest of the world. But when things start to take a turn for the worst, she finds herself alone and used, on top of having to deal with her powers. Please r & r.
1. Chapter 1

One morning Elsa awoke to find that it was snowing outside. Excited, she ran into the parlor, where her mother was taking cradling her baby sister Anna. "Mommy?" she asked, tugging her mother's skirt, "Will you build a snowman with me?"

"Oh sweetie, you know I would love to, but I have to take care of your sister. Maybe later." Elsa sadly hung her head and walked away.

Elsa played alone outside, using her ice powers to gather up snow to build a snowman. Suddenly she felt a snowball hit her in the back of the head. "Ow!" she cried, rubbing her head. She looked around but didn't see anyone. She continued to go back to her snowman when she felt another snowball hit her, only this time she heard a giggle in the distance. Using her powers, she formed a snowball, turned around and ran over to the direction of the snowball, only to find that no one was there. She continued to look around when she felt a third snowball, only this time she threw hers without a moment's hesitation after being hit. She still couldn't see anyone, but she heard the giggling again, only this time the voice also said "ow."

Elsa was starting to feel afraid. "Who are you?" she called out to the emptiness around her. There was nothing but silence. "If you don't come out right now, I'm going to go tell my mommy and daddy, the queen and king of Arendelle!"

"Go ahead," came a voice from behind her. She turned around and gasped. Standing before her was a tall, thin boy that looked like he was in his late teens, wearing brown and white rags and with white hair and blue eyes like her, holding a long, wooden staff. "You can tell whoever you want, but they won't believe you. No one else can see or hear me."

She began to approach him. "Are you real?"

"Just as real as you are."

"Then why am I the only one who can see or hear you?"

"Because…" He kneeled down and held out his hand, which was enclosed in a fist, and opened it up to release tiny ice magic.

Elsa gasped and smiled. "I can do that too!" she exclaimed excitedly, doing the same exact thing. "Is that why I'm the only one who can see you? Because we have the same powers?" The boy nodded. Elsa's expression immediately changed from excited to worry. "Does this mean that one day I will disappear too?"

"No, don't worry about that. That's from something else."

"Oh, okay. So then who are you?"

"The name's Jack, Jack Frost. And you are?"

"Princess Elsa of Arendelle."

"Princess?" he asked in fake shock. He bowed down before her. "My lady!" Elsa giggled as he stood back up. "So tell me then, what's a pretty little princess like you doing playing out here all by her lonesome?"

"My mommy and daddy are too busy to play with me," Elsa replied sadly. "My mommy is busy taking care of my baby sister and my daddy is busy doing king stuff."

"Really? Well that's not fair to you. But if you want though, I could be your friend."

Elsa's face lit up. "Really?"

"Of course. If you ever need me, all you have to do is call out my name, and I will always come."

"Since you're here now, will you play with me?"

"Of course." Jack replied smiling. Elsa and Jack spent most of the day running around outside in the snow playing, until finally Elsa's father called for her to come inside.

"Aw, I need to go," Elsa said sadly.

"Don't worry, I can come back tomorrow if you want."

"Yes, please!"

"Well then, Princess Elsa," Jack said as he got down on his knees and took Elsa's hand. "Until we meet again tomorrow." He kissed her hand before standing back up. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye Jack," Elsa said, waving to him. Jack did a slight wave back before walking away. He didn't go very far when he turned around to see Elsa running towards him. She hugged his legs tightly. "Thank you."

Jack bent back down so that he was at eye level with her. "Thank you for what?"

"For being my only friend."

Despite feeling cold as ice, Jack couldn't help but feel warm inside from what Elsa said. "You're my only friend too." Elsa made him a flower crown made out of ice and put it on his head. He couldn't help but chuckle as he stood back up and continued on his way.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack kept his word, and did return the next day. This occurred for the next couple of years, regardless of the weather Jack would come, and he and Elsa would play together with their powers. However, once Anna was old enough, Elsa began to shift her focus towards playing with her instead. Jack didn't care though. In fact, he liked that Elsa had someone else she could play with. Although Elsa didn't completely give up on Jack when she started playing with Anna more; she continued to play with him as well.

One day when Elsa and Anna were playing outside, Jack decided to watch from inside their room. He stood in the center of the giant window, watching them with content. Suddenly he heard a gasp from behind him, from a woman who sounded like she had seen a ghost. "Jack? Is that you?" came a trembling voice.

Jack didn't bother to turn around. "Hello Lillian," he said as he heard the door close behind him. Taking a deep breath, he turned around. Standing before him in total shock was Elsa's mother, the queen of Arendelle. "Wow," he said in awe. "You look like you haven't aged a day."

"I could say the same about you," Lillian replied sarcastically, releasing her tension.

* * *

Back when Lillian was a little girl, she was visited by Jack one day, and like Elsa she was the only one who could see or hear him. And like Elsa, the two of them would spend their days playing together. She was intrigued by Jack's powers, considering that she herself was just an ordinary powerless princess. As she grew older though, her feelings for Jack began to change, as did his feelings for her, and their relationship gradually changed from friendship to romance. Despite their feelings for each other, Lillian had also fallen in love with a handsome prince. While Jack couldn't help but feel a little hurt, he also knew that due to his anti-aging and immortality, there was no way they could ever have a real relationship, putting her happiness before his and knowing that he was going to have to let her go. On the night before her wedding to the prince, Lillian decided to have one last night of fun with Jack, having a rendezvous that consisted of both of them losing their virginities. Very shortly after her wedding, she became pregnant with Elsa. She thought that her husband was the father, but it wasn't until Elsa was born with white hair and ice powers that she knew she was Jack's daughter. However, she couldn't tell her husband about Jack, so she pretended not to know how Elsa was given her powers. As far as he and Elsa knew, she was his biological daughter.

* * *

"How long have you been here?"

"I never really left. I've been here ever since I saw you give birth to our daughter."

"Does Elsa know about you? Can she see you?"

"Of course. She's known me for a while now."

"But does she know that…?"

"No. As far as she's concerned, I'm just an invisible friend."

"Oh good."

"She has enough to worry about between being a big sister and juggling between her powers and being a princess. The last thing she needs to deal with is that her real father is an immortal winter spirit-person."

* * *

Over the next several years, Elsa continued to play happily with Anna and Jack. Jack continued to keep his real relationship with her a secret, and the more he and Elsa played together, the closer their friendship became. Not only did they spend their time playing together, but he also taught her how to better use and control her powers. Like any proud father, he couldn't believe how quickly the years flew by and how much Elsa had grown up. Gone was the little three-year-old he first met, and in her place was now a youthful and vibrant eight-year-old.

One night while she was asleep, Elsa was woken up by the now five-year-old Anna. She begged Elsa to go play with her and use her powers. Elsa of course couldn't resist her sister's plea and they ran downstairs to the main hall to play. Elsa released her powers, and the sisters spent the night playing in the ice and snow. The two of them were playing catch as Elsa would create hills of snow while Anna leaped from hill to hill when things began to get out of hand. Elsa slipped on the ice as her magic ended up hitting Anna in the head, causing her to fall down and pass out. Elsa ran over to her and rest her in her arms as she saw a section of her hair turn white. "Mamma! Pappa!" she called out, hoping that someone would hear. Her parents burst into the room, and without a moment's hesitation, they went on their way to someone the king knew could help save Anna.

They ended up going to visit some trolls. Their leader was able to heal Anna, but removed her memory of ever knowing about Elsa's powers. He then told Elsa that her power would only grow and that there was great beauty in it, but fear would become her enemy. The king decided that it was best for both of the girls' safety that they should be separated.

When they returned home, before Anna could wake up, everyone in the castle helped to split up the girls into two separate bedrooms. The next day, Elsa locked herself in her room. She was sitting on her bed, burying her head into her knees, her arms around her head, crying when she heard a familiar voice come in through the window. "Oh my god, Elsa are you okay?" Jack asked worriedly.

"Go away!" Elsa cried.

"Not until you tell me what happened. Also why are you in a different room? Why aren't you with Anna anymore?"

"This happened!" Elsa cried, releasing some ice magic from her hand. "I hate my powers! I wish that they would go away or that I never had them!" Jack couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After all, he was the reason why she was born with ice powers. Had she truly been her "father's" daughter, she could've been a normal person just like everyone else. "Why did I have to have powers? Why couldn't I have been an ordinary person like everyone else?"

"Because you're special. You're powers are not a curse, they're a gift."

"Jack," she sniffled, "are we the only ones out there with ice powers? Or are there others like us?"

"As far as I'm concerned, we're the only ones."

"But why us?"

"I honestly don't know. Now tell me, what happened last night?"

Elsa wiped the tears away with her arm. "Anna and I were playing when I accidentally hit her head with my magic and hurt her. We went to a bunch of trolls who healed her, but they took away her memory of my powers. Now my parents say that in order for both of us to be safe, we need to stay apart."

"Oh Elsa, I'm sorry."

"I don't think I want to play for a while."

"I understand."

* * *

Later that night, Elsa couldn't help but cry herself to sleep. "Oh, poor little Elsa," came a voice from the darkness. Elsa's eyes immediately shot awake. "After all, it's like the old troll said, your powers are only going to become stronger."

"Who are you?" Elsa asked, trembling.

The voice let out a wicked chuckle. "Oh, you have no reason to be afraid of me little one. I'm a friend, I'm here to help you."

"Then show yourself."

A dark figure with pointed black hair, grey skin, and a long black robe stepped into the moonlight where she could see. He was much taller than Jack and had pointed teeth and yellow eyes that reflected the moonlight like stars. Elsa couldn't help but be afraid as he smiled a wicked smile at her. "I am Pitch," he said with a bow. "Pitch Black."

"And how do you know who I am?"

"I can sense your fear Elsa. I know that you are afraid of your powers, of hurting anyone else again, but mostly you're afraid of yourself. But have you seen what you could do? Your powers are amazing! You shouldn't conceal it, you need to embrace it! Think about all the power you could gain if you learn to let it go and use it to its full potential! Embrace the fear, then use it to embrace your power!"

"But what would I use it for? I hurt my sister, I'm afraid of hurting anyone else too."

"But you don't have to be, and I'm here to help."

"But why? What do you want with me?"

"Because I, like you, knows how it feels to be shut out and viewed as a monster. I too have powers that are seen as dangerous. But if we could be kindred souls, then maybe one day we could show the world just how beautiful our magic could really be. What do you say?" Pitch put his hand out, anticipating a handshake.

Elsa thought for a moment. "Am I really a monster?" she asked timidly.

"I know you're not, but if you don't control your powers and use them to hurt anyone else, then they would think you are."

"I hurt my sister and now my parents are never letting us be together again. Does this mean that they think I am?"

"Possibly. Why else would they keep you locked in your room like an animal?" Elsa sadly dropped her head, but Pitch reached out to gently raise it up by holding her chin. "But you shouldn't let them keep you down. Like I said, don't hold it back. Let it go, and you will be much happier. Forget them and what they think." Pitch let go of Elsa and resumed putting his hand back out. "So what do you say? Do you trust me?"

Elsa thought again. She couldn't help but still be somewhat afraid due to his dark appearance, but at the same time she could sense that he genuinely wanted to help her. She made her decision quickly and wrapped her tiny hand around his as they shook. "Yes, I trust you."


	3. Chapter 3

Before Elsa knew it, ten long years seemed to pass by. But then again, the reason they passed so quickly was because nothing new or significant had happened at all during those years. Every day was always the same; Elsa locked up in her room conflicted as she tried to control her powers, her parents trying to suppress them while Pitch tried to embrace them. On top of all of that, there was Anna, who for the first few years would try to coax Elsa out of her room, only to give up when there was no response. Finally there was Jack who was neutral to Elsa's power dilemma and who only wanted to act as a companion and provide her with emotional support.

Elsa was eighteen when another life-changing catastrophe took place. Her parents were going out of town for two weeks. As they were heading out the palace, Elsa met them at the bottom of the staircase and curtsied. "Do you have to go?" she asked nervously.

"You'll be fine Elsa," her father responded.

But as it turned out, while they were on the boat a storm hit, the waves swallowing the boat as it sank to the bottom of the sea. Elsa was so emotionally broken that she didn't even show up to their funeral, even when Anna begged for her to come out. She just sat in her room, leaning against the door, and cried, her powers causing the room to be covered in ice and floating snow.

Elsa didn't know how much time had passed, but it simultaneously felt like only moments and a lifetime. She wasn't actually asleep, but her eyes were closed and she shut herself out to everything around her. It wasn't until she felt a familiar hand gently touch her shoulder that she woke up startled. She looked up to see that Jack was sitting right beside her. "I know about what happened to your parents. I'm sorry."

Elsa threw her arms around his shoulders, sobbing into his chest. "Thank you," she said in barely above a whisper. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry it out.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked once she had calmed down. "Are you going to tell anyone about your powers, or are you going to continue staying in here, or…?"

"Nothing is changing. I can't let anyone know about my powers. Look at me, look around, I'm dangerous."

"You're not dangerous. We both know that what happened that night was just an accident.

"Regardless, my parents are right. I have to keep my powers suppressed."

"You have to keep them controlled, but not suppressed. If you keep it all bottled up like this, then something bad will happen and then things really will get dangerous. But I believe in you. I know that it doesn't matter what I think; you do what makes you the most comfortable, and if it means hiding them, then so be it."

"Of course what you think matters. You matter more to me than anyone. You're the only real friend I've ever had, who's stood by me through everything. You're the only one who understands me and shares my power. You're the only one who I felt has ever truly loved me, and in return, you're the only one that I have ever truly loved."

Jack's heart felt like it was starting to leap out of his chest. He couldn't help but feel nervous at what was happening. "Elsa, what are you saying exactly?"

"I'm saying that you're the only boy I've ever known, the only one I've ever loved, and after spending a lifetime together, I feel like we could be more than just friends. You're the only thing that's been consistent in my life, my only source of true happiness, and the only one who has ever loved me for me and not just treated me as some girl with powers."

"Elsa, listen to me. You're just shaken up about your parents' deaths, you're not thinking straight. Besides you don't want me, I'm invisible remember?"

"I've spent so long locked up away from everyone that I might as well be invisible too."

"But I don't age. Look at me, I haven't aged a day since we first met! How could that work between us?" He knew how much Elsa was dealing with, and he knew that dropping the bombshell of why they could never be together would just mess with her even more.

"We could find someway around that. But come on, we're perfect for each other. Jack, I truly believe that what we have is true love." Their heads were practically pressed together. Acting on impulse, Elsa leaned in closer to kiss Jack, but he immediately pushed her away.

"Elsa, I know you think that, but trust me, we're not and we can't."

Elsa started to tear back up. "But Jack, I love you."

"I love you too, but…"

"Then why can't we…?"

"We just can't, okay?" he shouted as he stood up. Elsa looked up at him, stunned. This was the first time in the fifteen years that they knew each other that he ever raised his voice at her. He looked down at her as she trembled in fear and confusion. "I'm sorry Elsa, I have to go," he said heading towards the window.

"Jack, please wait," she said as she reached towards him, still on the ground.

"I'm sorry," he repeated as he grabbed his staff and flew out the window.

"Jack, come back! Please!" she cried. But it was too late, he was gone. Elsa breathed heavily, doing her best to hold back tears. She couldn't believe it. Within twenty-four hours, she had lost literally everyone that she had ever loved, only with Jack it was out of her own foolishness and desperateness for love and companionship.

At first she felt a tremendous amount of grief, before it switched over to anger. With an angry growl, she let out a huge ice blast from her hand, covering the open window in a huge block of ice. As she breathed heavily, she could hear a slow clap coming from behind her. "Bravo Elsa. That's the most amount of ice I've ever seen come from you."

Elsa didn't bother to turn around. "Go away Pitch."

"Although I must say," he continued, ignoring her request, "that I can't help but feel a little disheartened. After all these years, do you not consider me a friend?"

Elsa turned around to face him. "But how did you hear that?"

"You forget Elsa, I know everything. Every move, every conversation, I am here lurking in the shadows during it all. Though I must say, if that Jack boy was really your friend, he wouldn't have stormed off like that, leaving you alone in your time of need without so much as an answer. I would never do that to you Elsa. You know that I will always be here for you."

Elsa let out a sigh of defeat, for she knew that he was right. "I know."

Pitch opened up his arms for a hug. "Come here," he called gently. After all of these years, she still couldn't help but feel afraid of him, there was always something about him that made her feel really uncomfortable. But at the same time, there was something about him that she could never bring herself to say no to. And as much as she hated to admit it, he was always there for her, the better friend between him and Jack. She slowly walked up to him, pressing against him as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. "I promise," he whispered into her ear, "that I will never, ever leave you."


	4. Chapter 4

Three years had passed since her parents' deaths, and Elsa was now of age to become queen of Arendelle. This also marked the first time she would ever have any real human contact, including with Anna. For the first time in her life, she was about to meet people from outside the palace, real people without powers who weren't only visible to her.

After standing on the balcony watching the people gather into the courtyard, she went back inside to the parlor to practice concealing her powers for the coronation. "What are you doing?" came a familiar voice from the shadows.

"I have to conceal it," Elsa responded.

"But don't you see? Now's your chance to show the world what you're capable of!"

"I can't. I know you're trying to help, but I can't. As far as everyone out there is concerned, I'm just an ordinary girl and their queen."

"But Elsa…"

"I'm sorry Pitch, but please leave me. I need to concentrate."

* * *

At the coronation, after she was crowned she was about to take the scepter and orb when the priest stopped her. "Your Majesty, the gloves."

Elsa nervously began to take her gloves off. "Now's your chance," she heard a whisper in her ear. "Show them who you really are." Elsa took a deep breath, trembling as she reached for the items. The priest spoke as she held them, doing everything she could to prevent herself from covering them in ice. Watching from the shadows, Pitch was waiting with anticipation for Elsa to activate her powers. When even the smallest hint of ice was released from her hands, she quickly set the items down and put her gloves back on. As she did this, disappointment quickly consumed Pitch.

* * *

Later that night at the ball, Elsa maintained her composure as she stood next to Anna, the closest they have ever been since the accident. She couldn't help but feel like this woman next to her was some stranger, not the little girl who she loved unconditionally, but at the same time all she saw when looking at her was that little girl. "Hi."

Anna looked up nervously. "Hi? Hi me?" Elsa nodded. "Oh, um, hi?"

Even though she wasn't showing it, Elsa was just as nervous as Anna. It pained her that her own sister was acting as if she was a stranger, but in a way, she was. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you. You look beautifuller, I mean not fuller, you don't look fuller, but more, more beautiful…"

"Thank you." They continued in awkward conversation until they were approached by the Duke of Weselton, asking for a dance. Not wanting any physical contact with anyone, she ended up sacrificing Anna to dance with him, watching with secondhand embarrassment as she put up with his ridiculous "dancing."

"Well he was spritely," she said as Anna came back tiredly.

"Especially for a man in heals."

"Are you okay?"

"I've never been better. This is so nice. I wish it could be like this all the time."

"Me too." Elsa's smile faded and looked away. "But it can't."

"But why not? I mean we…" Anna tried to reach out to her, but Elsa turned away.

"It just can't."

"Excuse me for a minute." Elsa watched as her sister disappeared into the crowd.

Sometime later while she was talking to guests, she heard Anna call her from behind. "Elsa!" She turned around to see Anna approaching, holding hands with a handsome ginger-haired prince. "I mean Queen. Me again. Um, may I present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles." Anna wrapped her hands around his arm.

"Your Majesty," Hans said with a slight bow. "We would like," they said in unison, before they stopped and giggled, "your blessing," Hans continued, "of our marriage!" they completed together.

Elsa had never been so shocked in her life. "Wha… marriage?"

"Yes!" Anna exclaimed excitedly in a high-pitched voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused."

"Well we haven't worked out all the details ourselves. We'll need a few days to plan the ceremony. Of course we'll have soup, roast, and ice cream, and then… Wait, would we live here?"

"Here?"

"Absolutely!"

"Anna…"

"Oh, we can invite all twelve of your brothers to stay with us."

"What? No, no…"

"Of course we have the room, I don't know if…"

"Just wait, slow down. No one's brothers are staying here, no one is getting married."

"Wait, what?"

"May I talk to you please? Alone?"

"No. Whatever you have to say you, you can say to both of us."

"Fine. You can't marry a man you just met."

"You can if it's true love."

"Anna, what do you know about true love?"

"More than you. All you know is how to shut people out."

Elsa couldn't help but feel like an arrow pierced her heart. All of a sudden she was given a flashback. "Jack, I truly believe that what we have is true love," and the image of him running away from her. If that was the response from a man she had known most of her life, then how could this man that her sister knew for less than a day be her "true love?" In order to hide her pain, she regained her composure. "You asked for my blessing, and my answer is no. Now, excuse me."

Elsa began to walk away. "Your Majesty, if I may ease your…"

"No you may not, and, and I think you should go." She walked away passed one of the servants. "The party is over, close the gates."

"What?" Anna ran up to her. "Elsa, no, no, wait," she begged as she pulled off one of Elsa's gloves.

"Give me my glove!"

"Elsa, please! Please! I can't live like this anymore!"

"Then leave." There was a moment of silence before Elsa turned to walk away.

As this little show was going on, there was a spectator watching from the shadows.

"What did I ever do to you?"

"Enough Anna!"

"No, why? Why do you shut me out? What, why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?"

"I said enough!" With that she released a huge blast of ice that formed a wall of spikes separating her from everyone. Everyone gasped as they backed away, afraid of what just happened. Meanwhile the dark spectator smiled with relief, proud of Elsa for finally showing her powers, and more importantly, prompting the response of fear from everyone in the room. Elsa stared at the crowd as they stared back. She reached for the door behind her and ran out.

When she opened the front doors, she was greeted with a huge crowd of people cheering for her. She ignored their praise and ran passed them. In order to get passed them without touching them, she backed away, touching a waterfall. Everyone looked up in shock and fear as it suddenly turned to ice. "There she is! Stop her!" She looked towards the door to see the Duke of Weselton standing there.

"Please, just stay away from me! Stay away!" Elsa barely moved her hand when she let out an ice blast towards him that froze the entire front steps, knocking him and his men down.

"Monster," he said as he sat up. "Monster!" he cried again pointing towards her.

Elsa looked down at her hand and looked around to see everyone cowering in fear of her. All of a sudden she had another flashback. "Am I really a monster?"

"I know you're not, but if you don't control your powers and use them to hurt anyone else, then they would think you are."

In a moment of panic she ran away out of the castle. She found herself standing at the waters edge, her footsteps turning the water to ice. Knowing that she was no longer trapped, she ran across the water, turning it to ice as she ran. As she ran, she felt snow beginning to fall from the sky. She made it across the water and made her way up into the mountains.

Elsa kept climbing until she was all the way up the snow-covered mountain. As she looked at all the snow around her, she realized that she didn't need to keep her powers hidden anymore. After all, the secret was out, so there was nothing to hide. She then began to play around with her powers, seeing the beauty in them for the first time in years. She knew that it was in everyone's best interests if she stayed isolated from everyone on this mountain, so that she could be free to use their powers and they would be spared from the risk of her causing any harm. She built herself a palace made of ice and changed her dress and hair to something more liberating. No more kingdom, no more family, and no more magical invisible friends, she was finally alone and free. After all these years, she had finally learned to let it go.


	5. Chapter 5

Elsa paced nervously around the palace. "Get it together," she whispered to herself. "Control it. Don't feel, don't feel, don't feel, don't feel!" She looked around as the room started forming sharp spikes. Just when she thought she was free, she should've known that it wasn't going to be so easy.

* * *

After a couple days, Elsa was visited by Anna. She had made the journey up the mountain to find her, and to ask for a second chance on their relationship. Now that she knew about her powers, they could finally be together again. But Elsa couldn't stop thinking about the accident, and how it was better for both of them to stay away. She wanted Anna to return to Arendelle, where she would be free from her winter. It actually turned out that by running away, rather than having the winter go away it just made it worse, and that Anna wanted her to return to stop the winter. This caused Elsa to have another panic attack, and releasing an ice blast that froze Anna's heart. After seeing what her powers did to Anna, she couldn't help but hate herself. The one thing that she had spent the last thirteen years trying to avoid had happened; she had hurt Anna again, only in a more serious way than before. Wanting to get her to leave, she created a giant snowman bodyguard who threw Anna and her friends out of the palace and kept watch.

* * *

Elsa was freaking out over what to do when she heard a slow menacing clap. "Bravo Elsa." She looked around and gasped as Pitch emerged from the shadows. "That was quite the show you put on there."

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Oh Elsa, I already told you. I'll always know how to find you. Although I must add that you look absolutely stunning. This look is much better suited for you," he said as he approached her, grabbing her body and running his hands down her sides to her waist.

Elsa pushed him away. "Well I took your advice. I let it go, and now look what happened!"

"You're just scared. As I've said before, you need to embrace the fear. You keep trying to fight it and look what happens."

"What is it that you want with me exactly? Why is my power so important to you?"

"Because you finally lived up to your full potential! You heard your sister, the entire kingdom is covered in snow and it's all because of you! You have more power than you know how to deal with! And that was just your kingdom! Imagine, taking control of the whole world!"

"I never even wanted to control my own kingdom. I could barely control myself."

"But think of what we could do together! After all, what goes together better than cold and dark?" He let out some black sand that suspended in mid-air before grabbing Elsa's wrist. As she tried to struggle out of his grip, she let out a blast of ice, freezing the sand into a spiky crown and causing it to fall to the ground. Pitch let go and picked up the crown, presenting it to her. "What do you say Elsa? Will you be my queen?" He handed her the crown and all she could do was stare at it. "Think about it Elsa. What else do you have to go back to out there? You said yourself that you can't fix it." Elsa let out a sigh and put the crown on her head, looking at her reflection with a mix of fear and confusion. "It suits you," Pitch said as he approached her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he looked at himself. "You look beautiful."

All of a sudden, she heard a noise coming from outside the palace. She immediately threw the crown off her head, causing it to shatter into pieces, and ran downstairs to see what was going on. She opened the door to see her guard attacking some men trying to enter the palace. When she made eye contact with the Duke of Weselton's guards, she immediately closed the doors. She then saw them approaching the entrance, so she ran back upstairs. She returned to the room hoping Pitch was still there, only to find it empty. She turned around to see the men approaching her with their crossbows aimed at her. "No, please," she begged. One of them fired, and Elsa managed to create a small wall of ice in front of her that caught the arrow. "Stay away," she begged again as she created more ice blasts, dodging their arrows. She then created a bunch of spikes that pierced one man to the wall, with one spike inching slowly towards his neck, while knocking the crossbow out of the other's hands, trapping him between two ice walls and creating a third that pushed him backwards about to push him off the balcony. She heard the sound of footsteps run in, but she didn't acknowledge them.

"Queen Elsa!" she heard from behind her. "Don't be the monster they fear you are!" Elsa turned around to see Hans leading the group of men at the front of the room. She stopped to take a breath and realized what she had almost done.

"Don't listen to him!" she heard another, more familiar voice shout. She turned around to see Pitch. "You're not the monster, they are! They are the ones who were trying to kill an innocent victim! You have every right to self-defense. You won't be safe until they are gone!"

Before Elsa had the chance to take in what Pitch said, she looked up as she heard the sound of the chandelier above her break. As it fell to the ground she managed to run out of the way, shattering into pieces behind her. As it shattered, she fell to the ground, hitting her head and blacking out.


	6. Chapter 6

When Elsa regained consciousness she found herself lying on a bed in the dungeon. She ran up to the window to see how bad the damage was when she found herself constricted by chains around her hands. She stepped over them to get a better look, appalled by the winter wasteland she saw outside. "No," she whispered to herself, "What have I done?" She turned around at the sound of the door opening to find Hans entering the room. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I couldn't just let them kill you," he responded as he approached her.

"But I'm a danger to Arendelle. Get Anna!"

"Anna has not returned." Elsa turned around, worried that her sister was still lost somewhere out there. "If you would just stop the winter, bring back summer, please," Hans begged.

"Don't you see? I can't. You have to tell them to let me go."

"I will do what I can." Hans walked away and closed the door.

Elsa, panicking, looked down as she saw her chains begin to freeze. "Do you really think that prince is going to help save you?"

She gasped as she looked up to find Pitch standing before her. "What choice do I have? Besides he saved me once before."

"That's because he needed you alive. All he cares about is getting you out of the picture so that he can slay the villain and be the hero."

"I am not the villain. You said yourself that I needed to defend myself, that killing those men wasn't a crime."

Pitch let out one of his wicked, bone-chilling chuckles. "All I said was that you weren't a monster. But I never said anything about you not being a villain. Face the reality sweetheart, look at us! We are villains! Look at what you have done!" he said as he released a blast of black sand towards the window, creating images of what was going on in Arendelle. Elsa gasped at what she saw, people freezing to death and cowering in fear, trying to stay alive. "Look Elsa. You did all of this. You may have not intended to hurt these people, but your intentions are pointless. They are all afraid and on the brink of death, all because of you! But they aren't the ones that really matter, are they? No, the only one you ever really cared about was your dear little sister Anna. Let's see how she's doing shall we?"

The image changed to Anna, who now had more white in her hair, clinging to Hans in the parlor. "What happened out there?" Hans asked.

"Elsa struck me with her powers."

"You said she'd never hurt you."

"I was wrong." Anna then began to fall over in pain as Hans caught her and carried her to the couch. "She froze my heart and only an act of true love can save me."

"A true love's kiss."

As they leaned in to kiss each other, Pitch removed the sand from the window, letting the white light from outside fill the room again. "See that Elsa? Even your own sister doesn't believe in you anymore."

"I did all of this," Elsa said quietly. "I made all those people afraid of me, I did the one thing I spent thirteen years avoiding from happening, and there's nothing I could do to stop any of it. What should I do? How do I fix this?"

"There's nothing you can do, it's too late for Arendelle. They will all freeze to death because of you. No matter where you go, you will always spread fear along with your winter. But you don't have to go about this alone. My offer still stands."

"I still don't understand what it is you want from me."

"Isn't it obvious? Elsa, I live off of fear. The more afraid people are, the more darkness consumes everything, the stronger I am. It's a never-ending cycle; you have more fear than anyone I've ever seen, your fear triggers your powers to go out of control, therefore making everyone afraid of you, therefore making you more afraid, therefore causing your powers to grow even stronger more out of your control, and so on. Between you and what you do to people, I'm invincible. And with you as my queen, we can rule the world together!"

"So you were using me? This whole time when you said that you believed in me, you were lying?"

"No, I meant every word I said. I believed in you, I cared about you, because I knew that as long as I had your trust you would become the woman you are today. Let's be honest. If it weren't for me, you would still be locked up in your room, alone and friendless, hating what you are."

"And how is that any different than now? At least then everyone would be safe."

"Everyone except you. You would have driven yourself to madness. See, that's your problem Elsa. You worry too much about other people, putting them before you, therefore hurting yourself in order to keep others happy. You need to focus on yourself. The one time you did you were finally free and suddenly all those other people didn't matter. You need to be more selfish."

"And why would I want to be anything like you?"

"Because it's already happened. You are already more like me than you think. Think Elsa. Who else do you have who cares about you anymore? Your parents are dead, the only other friend you ever had rejected and abandoned you, your people fear you, and your sister has given up on you. You have no one else left besides me! I'm the only one who has ever been consistently there for you! Now you have two options, you can either choose to spend the rest of your days with me, or spend the rest of your days alone and unloved, causing nothing but fear and destruction everywhere you go."

"I think I'll take my chances with the latter. At least then I would be free from a monster like you!"

As all of this was going on, the ice had filled up the room to the point that it was practically white with frost. She tugged on the chains as she heard voices approaching the cell. "Hurry up!"

"She's dangerous. Move quickly!"

"Careful. It won't open!"

"It's frozen shut." This caused the walls to collapse and the chains around Elsa's hands to break, releasing her, not just from her physical hold, but from Pitch's manipulative hold over her as well.

"You can run all you want!" she heard Pitch shout from the distance as she ran. "But no matter where you go, no matter what you do, as long as your fear continues to consume you, you will always be a monster like me! And I will always be there! No matter how much you try to hide from me, I will always find you!"

As Elsa ran, a blizzard began to form. The more she ran, the more her fear consumed her, the stronger the blizzard became. It wasn't very long before it had become so strong that nothing was visible other than a pure white nothingness. As she wandered around lost, she could hear the sound of Pitch's laughter echoing through the wind. Suddenly she saw another figure approaching from the mist. She gasped, trying to run away, thinking that it was Pitch coming for her again. "Elsa!" she heard a familiar voice cry. She was a little relieved that the figure was Hans and not Pitch, but that still didn't help her fear. "You can't run from this!"

Elsa knew that deep down, both he and Pitch were right, that no matter what she couldn't run away from this. She knew that she was a lost cause, but as long as Anna was all right then she wouldn't care. She turned around to face Hans. "Just take care of my sister."

"Your sister? She returned from the mountain weak and cold. She said that you froze her heart."

"No," she whispered, even though she already knew what she did.

"I tried to save her, but it was too late. Her skin was ice, her hair turned white. Your sister is dead because of you!"

"No," she whispered again. It was one thing to inflict fear or hurt people, it was even one thing to want to kill out of self-defense, but this was different. The only person she ever killed, and it was her own sister, the one person she loved more than anyone. All those years spent trying to protect her, and in the end all it did was hurt her more than anyone. Elsa, feeling light-headed with grief, collapsed onto her knees, crying. As she fell to the ground, the blizzard and fog cleared away.

As Elsa lay there crying, she realized that she truly didn't want to live anymore. Pitch was right. She was alone, friendless and unloved, a danger to everyone around her, and the one person who still bothered to care about her was a malicious, abusive manipulator. When she heard the swing of Hans drawing his sword, she didn't move, gladly welcoming death. She heard footsteps approaching, but didn't bother to care to see who it was when she heard a familiar voice. "No!" Suddenly she heard the sound of ice hardening, right before Hans's sword shattered and a gust of wind threw him back and knocked him out.

Elsa didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't help but look anyway. She had barely seen Anna's frozen solid hand when she looked up to see an ice statue of her sister before her. "Anna!" she screamed as she stood up and ran to face her, frozen into a pose to protect Hans's upcoming blow. "No, Anna, no, no, please, no," she begged as she rested her hands on Anna's solid cheeks, staring into her lifeless yet fearful eyes. She began to bawl her eyes out, hugging her arms around her and resting her head on her shoulder.

Suddenly she felt the ice around her slip away, and in her arms was the warm flesh of her sister. She looked up to see Anna smiling down at her, her hair free of any white, back to her old self. "Anna?" she asked in optimistic disbelief.

She stood up and embraced her, never wanting to let go. "Oh Elsa," Anna whispered.

"You sacrificed yourself for me?" she asked as they broke away from each other, Elsa grabbing Anna's hands.

"I love you."

"Love will thaw," Elsa said with realization. "Love, of course."

"Elsa?"

"Love!" Anna gasped as she looked down. With Elsa's newfound power of love, she began to lift the ice and snow away around them. As the ice melted beneath them, they raised out of the water on a boat. Everyone in Arendelle looked around as the snow melted away, revealing the summer that was buried underneath.

However there was one spectator on the boat who watched in horror as everyone's fear, especially Elsa's, began to melt away. "No," he whispered. "No! All my hard work, wasted!"

Once the sun shined bright and every last trace of ice was gone, Anna put her hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I knew you could do it."

Their moment of happiness however was interrupted by the sound of Hans getting up. When Anna approached him, he looked up in confusion. "Anna? But she froze your heart," he said standing up.

"The only frozen heart around here is yours." Anna turned around as if to walk away, only to turn back, grab Hans by the collar, and punch him in the face, knocking him out over the edge of the boat into the water. Anna then turned back to Elsa, and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other in another big embrace.

"Elsa!" Pitch called, but there was no response. He ran in front of her to stop her from getting off the boat as she held hands with Anna. "Elsa, stop, listen to me!" He reached out to grab her shoulders to stop her, but it was too late. As she ran off the boat with Anna, laughing and smiling, she looked right at him and ran right through him as if he didn't exist. "No," he whispered, touching his body as he felt the lingering, numbing feeling of having been forgotten about.

He knew that his relationship with Elsa was officially over and that Elsa didn't need him for protection and companionship anymore. After all those years of making sure she never let go of her fear to satisfy his own fear of being alone, she had finally let him go. Even though she was merely a tool for his plan for power, he couldn't help but have grown some kind of attachment towards her. She was his only friend, the only person who saw him and gave him a chance. And while he was incapable of love, deep down his feelings were strong enough for her that when he asked her to be his queen, not only was he using her for her power, but he also wanted a friend, hoping that she could save him from his loneliness just as he tried to save her from hers.

He grabbed the rail of the boat as he watched Elsa and Anna run back to the castle. "Elsa," he said quietly and full of sadness. "Please don't leave me. I need you."


	7. Chapter 7

Back at the castle courtyard, the entire town gathered around as Elsa stood there in the center. She felt nervous yet excited as she looked around at the sea of smiling faces. "Are you ready?" Everyone replied with cheers and applause. She then stomped her foot down, turning the brick ground to ice as everyone responded in awe. Smiling, she then froze the fountains into ice sculptures and released some magic in the air that caused it to start snowing lightly. Everyone skated happily around on the ice, twirling and gliding all over the place.

Anna clumsily made her way over to Elsa. She began to trip as Elsa caught her. "I like the open gates."

"We are never closing them again."

Elsa then used her magic to turn Anna's boots into ice skates. She looked down, proud of herself. "Oh Elsa, they're beautiful, but you know I don't ska…"

Elsa grabbed Anna's hands and pulled her along on the ice. "Come on! You can do it!"

When they stopped Anna began to fall, not wanting to let go of Elsa's hands as she skidded on the ice trying to keep her balance. "I got it, I got it, I don't got it, I don't got it!" Elsa helped Anna regain her composure and they continued to glide along. Elsa then let go and the two of them continued to skate together.

As they were skating, Elsa looked up and was taken aback to see a familiar face in her bedroom window, smiling down at them. Elsa couldn't believe it; she felt her heart leap out of her chest from happiness and nervousness. "Hey Anna." Anna looked up as Elsa headed for the entrance. "I will be right back. There's something I have to do really quickly inside."

"Can I come with you?"

"I'm sorry, but this is something I have to do alone. But I promise I won't take long, it'll only be a few minutes." And with that Elsa ran inside and upstairs to her room.

Before opening the door, she tried to hide her excitement by composing herself, fixing up her hair and dress. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. When she stepped inside, the figure turned around and looked at her in awe. "Wow, Elsa, I almost didn't recognize you. You look beautiful."

Elsa tried her best not to blush. "Thank you Jack," she said closing the door behind her. "You look like you haven't aged a day." She approached the window and closed the curtains, so that no one could see her talking to herself like a crazy person.

"Well, that's because I haven't," he replied in a nervous laughter.

"Listen, Jack, there's something that I've been wanting to tell you…"

"And there's something that I need to tell you too. But you go first."

"I just wanted to apologize for what happened between us. You were right, I was alone, I was scared and confused, and what I did was incredibly inappropriate and stupid. Could you possibly forgive me?"

Jack reached out and held her hands. "I already have."

"So why did you come back now? Why didn't you come sooner?"

"I did. I've been here this whole time. The only problem was you couldn't see me."

"What do you mean?"

"After I left you stopped believing in me. But I always came back, hoping that maybe you could see me again."

"So you saw everything that happened then?" she asked, kind of embarrassed.

"I did."

"Including…"

"Yes, I know about you and Pitch. But I don't blame you. You were afraid, and he lives off of fear. He was using you, but now that you've let go of your fear, you are finally free of him. Elsa, look at yourself," he said as he led her to a mirror. "You are not the scared, insecure little girl anymore, but a strong, independent, beautiful woman. I'm so proud of you, and I know your family is too."

Elsa could feel tears of joy beginning to fill her eyes. She turned around to face him before reaching into a hug. "Thank you Jack, for always believing in me, even when I stopped believing in you." When they pulled apart, Jack wiped away Elsa's tears. "Now, didn't you say there was something that you needed to tell me?"

"Yes, although it's something that I hoped I would never have to do, but I figured you were old enough that you should know."

"What do I need to know?"

"You might want to sit down for this."

"Okay…" Elsa said suspiciously as she sat down.

Jack began to fidget anxiously as he struggled with how to go about telling her. "Elsa, you know that ever since the day we met I have always loved you, right?"

"Right…"

"And when I left you that night, I wanted so badly to tell you why we could never actually be together, but I knew you already had enough pain to deal with that I knew either way I would only make it worse. I left because any sort of romance between us is completely wrong."

"Okay…"

"I knew you had enough to deal with being princess and having your powers, and then the accident only made your stress worse, and I knew that if I told you, then you would really be screwed."

"Jack, just tell me."

"Elsa, I'm the reason you have your powers. That's why you were always able to see me before knowing who I was."

"But how…"

"There's no easy way of saying this so I'm just going to come out and say it, regardless of how stupid and unbelievable it sounds." He let out a big sigh as if he were finally letting go of a huge weight from his shoulders. "I'm your father."

Elsa's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, what?" she asked in disbelief.

"Remember when I told you that you were the only one who could see me?" Elsa's head slowly nodded. "Well, I kinda lied. You see your mother was the one other person who believed in me, and we kinda fell in love, and the night before she got married we kinda sorta… yeah, and then you were born and… yeah… But like I said, I knew you already had enough to deal with and we both agreed that it was in everybody's best interest that you didn't know. As far as everyone was concerned, just because he was not your birth father, that man was as far as you two knew, your real father while I was just the fun friend-figure. Not to mention I was afraid that if you knew it would make our friendship kind of awkward. That's why when you tried to kiss me…"

"No, no, I completely get it now. So you really are my…"

"Why do you think that we're the only ones in the world with these powers? Not to mention you have my hair," he said with another nervous chuckle.

"This means that Anna is…"

"She's your half-sister, and that's also why she doesn't have powers and you do. So, now that I've told you, does this change anything?"

Elsa remained silent for a moment, contemplating the big news, but she looked back up without any concern. "No, it doesn't. No matter what Jack, I will always love you."

"And I will always love you Elsa." They reached in for yet another hug, not wanting to let go of each other.

All of a sudden, Elsa's eyes shot open, remembering something. "Oh my god, Anna! I told her I would be right back!" she exclaimed as she was about to run out of the room. She then stopped and turned around. "Come with me."

"What? But you know that…"

"I know, but still. Come with me and skate with us."

Jack couldn't resist Elsa's plea. "Alright."

"By the way, just so things don't get awkward between us, especially now that I'm older than you, I'm not calling you 'dad.'"

"I am completely okay with that." As they got to the stairs, Jack placed his staff out to stop Elsa before turning around with a mischievous smile. "I have an idea on how to make this more fun."

"What?"

With a blast from his staff, he turned the staircase into an ice slide. He reached his hand out. "My lady." Elsa accepted his hand, and the two of them surfed down the ice before running outside to rejoin Anna and everyone at the skating rink.


End file.
